The Stafford Voice

Our little place to talk about and share about life.

Daniel

The Road Ahead: Tax and Spend or Cut and Save?

by

by Ken Connor

As Congress’ lame duck session gets underway, the nation is watching to see if the Democrats will attempt to capitalize on their last few weeks of hegemony before a huge shift in power occurs.  Foremost on the agenda are the soon-to-expire Bush tax cuts.  Happily for the middle class, there appears to be universal agreement that those cuts should be extended.  The real contention lies with the question of whether or not to extend tax cuts to those Americans earning over $250,000 a year.

Aside from the obvious political implications of using the lame duck session to ram through a tax increase that would undoubtedly fail if put forward under the new Congress, there are two key issues at the heart of this debate.  They represent different sides of the same coin:  Taxing and Spending.  When it comes to taxation, the real issue is how the federal government views the earnings of the American people.  With regard to those earnings, does the government have an entitlement mentality?  The second involves the American people’s view of government programs.  Concerning such programs, do the American people have an entitlement mentality?

Continue reading . . .

The Falling Promise of Public Education

by

by Joseph Phillips

We, the American public, hold it as an article of faith that those responsible for devising and implementing public policy have our best interests at heart. Our best minds are hard at work, striving to make the world a better place. Our elected officials are dedicated to protecting our freedoms, increasing our prosperity, and securing justice for all.

What, then, is the public to assume when, in spite of the best efforts of our most brilliant thinkers and politicians, freedoms erode, prosperity decreases, and for a great many, justice seems elusive? Surely, sinister forces must be at work.

Let us take for an example the nation’s system of public education. For years, American taxpayers have been sold on a triad of public policy fixes for public education. In order to improve student performance, state and federal governments must dedicate a greater portion of their budgetary dollars to education; class sizes must be reduced, and there must be greater oversight by the federal government. So fervent is the belief in this holy trinity of education, that to even ponder the efficacy of the federal Department of Education is seen as heresy. Any politician who attempts to curb the unrestricted flow of tax dollars to public schools is accused of not wanting to “invest in education.”

Continue reading . . .

Daily Dose

by

“The invasion of private rights is chiefly to be apprehended, not from acts of Government contrary to the sense of its constituents, but from acts in which the Government is the mere instrument of the major number of the Constituents.” – James Madison

Proverbs 3:13 – Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.

On this day in history:

In 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald while visiting in Dallas, Texas.

TSA Scanners Prove to be a Scam

by

There is no denying that the TSA made an ignorant decision to mandate full body scans in airports. But, the scam is the main thing that should be addressed.

The things that aren’t being talked about is where the real attention should be pointed. It isn’t enough that many are left feeling violated, while some 80% of Americans said they favor more thorough and intimate screening procedures in a recent survey. Security is a selling point, and that is just the agenda of the Administration and the TSA.

Now, with so many people complaining about the amount of radiation they could be exposed to is something worth looking into, what’s more interesting and worth more to look into is the amount of money contained in contractsto outfit all the airport terminals. After all, isn’t it alarming that the government is allocating millions upon millions of taxpayer funds to outfit the x-ray machines?

However, all of that doesn’t address the actual scam being conducted. The thing that nobody is addressing is that all of this security is being contained in America, not abroad. The big question is this: Why are we not scanning at all terminals internationally that would be entering into US airspace? After all, if they were so concerned for the safety of Americans, would they not focus on the inbound flights from other countries that aid and house terrorists?

But it is highly likely that the administration will not answer that question; as they look to prosper from the contracts that were issued, the money to be made from investing heavily in those companies being chosen to fulfill the contracts, and more importantly the lobbyist money to be gained.

Obama’s in Asia, but where’s his foreign policy?

by

by Ian Bremmer

Almost as soon as the midterm elections ended, President Barack Obama set off on a 10-day Asia swing. He’s found friendly footing abroad so far: a receptive India looking for a general counterweight to China and a rapturous day in Indonesia, where Obama spent several formative years as a child. Next came a G20 summit hosted by South Korea, a strengthening U.S. ally, and then he’ll hit Yokohama for an APEC summit and to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the U.S.-Japan alliance. But this happy-go-lucky itinerary doesn’t even hint at an overarching foreign policy. Which got me thinking, is Obama ever going to come up with one?

Plenty of commercial and defense deals were delivered during the India visit, which shows how that relationship is improving. There were high hopes for a breakthrough in Seoul on the U.S.-Korea trade agreement, though that now seems unlikely (at least for now). The Japan visit should include broad agreement on Tokyo moving ahead (along with the United States) with a trans-Pacific partnership (TPP). But these are all small things.

What’s the big picture?

Continue reading . . .

Principles over Party

by

by Jedediah Bila

Governor Chris Christie—who has commendably been a defender of fiscal responsibility in New Jersey—recently declared, “I think Delaware was a missed opportunity to have a really good U.S. Senator,” affirming that he was proud to have endorsed Mike Castle.

Former George W. Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson wrote in The Washington Post that unlike Christine O’Donnell and Sharron Angle, “Serious, mainstream Republican Senate candidates could have won in Delaware and Nevada.” He sarcastically added, “O’Donnell and Angle were gifts of Sen. Jim DeMint and Sarah Palin to their party.”

Christie and Gerson seem to have missed the mark ever so slightly … by about five-hundred feet.

Continue reading . . .

Barack Obama: The Most Anti-Israel President

by

by Ken Blackwell

With his remarks in Jakarta, Indonesia, President Obama made history once again. Sadly, it’s a most unenviable title. I believe he is the most anti-Israel President in U.S. history.

In going to Jakarta, Indonesia, to launch his latest attack, he literally went to the ends of the earth to give voice to his displeasure. He emphasized his opposition to the policies of the elected government of Israel.

He used his Jakarta platform to complain about Israel building apartments for her growing population. Where? In Jerusalem, the capital of Israel.

To make matters even worse, Jakarta is a city no Israeli is allowed to enter! The symbolism of saying what he said in the country and city where he said it is simply atrocious.

Continue reading . . .

Daily Dose

by

“I, however, place economy among the first and most important of republican virtues, and public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared.” – Thomas Jefferson

Exodus 22:25 – If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an userer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.

On this day in history:

In 1954, Ellis Island closes after processing more than 12 million immigrants since opening in 1892.

GOP Freshmen Will Hold Boehner to His Big Promises

by

by Michael Barone

For political junkies of a certain age, it was a given that the House of Representatives would always be controlled by Democrats. They won the chamber in 1954 and held on for 40 years — more than twice as long as any party in American history had before.
   
When Sam Rayburn died at 79, more than 20 years after first becoming speaker, he was succeeded by John McCormack, 70, who was followed by Carl Albert, 68, and Tip O’Neill, an energetic 64. Every House elected from 1958 to 1992 had at least 242 Democrats, well above the 218 votes needed for a majority.
   
Now things are different. The Republicans won a majority in the House in 1994 and held on until 2006, the third longest period of Republican control in history; Democrats won two thumping victories in 2006 and 2008, but lost all their gains and more in the election last week. Alternation in power seems to be the new norm.

Continue reading . . .

Repeal the 26th Amendment

by

by Ann Coulter

Jimmy Carter was such an abominable president we got Ronald Reagan, tax cuts, a booming economy and the destruction of the Soviet Union.

Two years of Bill Clinton and a Democratic Congress got us the first Republican Congress in half a century, followed by tax cuts, welfare reform and a booming economy –- all of which Clinton now claims credit for.

Obama’s disastrous presidency has already produced Republican senators from Massachusetts, Wisconsin and Illinois; New Jersey’s wonder-governor Chris Christie; and the largest House majority for Republicans since 1946.

We deserve more. Clinton only threatened to wreck the health care system; Obama actually did it. We must repeal the 26th Amendment.

Continue reading . . .